Much has been said about how to face the summer in this new situation. We are faced with capacity restrictions on beaches, closed swimming pools and holiday trips are not made with the same perception as in previous seasons.
As an alternative, the placement of a swimming pool has been questioned in many homes because of the qualities of this architectural element that condition its location. However, this post is loaded with pools and contemporary art that I hope you will enjoy.
In the previous edition of Arte-Piscinas we were able to see that there are many artists who, following in the footsteps of David Hockney’s painting, take us to these outdoor leisure settings from different perspectives.
In this post I will present nine artistic pieces (projects) from different disciplines and techniques that revolve around water and the pool to reflect on very heterogeneous issues. And you will see that the colour blue swimming pool will not be very reflected in this edition ARTE-PISCINAS II.
We begin with the piece entitled “El Nadador, 2020”, by the plastic artist Mariano Luque (Seville, 1972), which belongs to the series Paisajes Vacíos. A symbolic work in graphite and colour with minimalist lines. This work is inspired by a film from the sixties with the same title “The Swimmer” and by the memory that swimming without a predetermined course offers the artist. In this film, a swimmer, played by Burt Lancaster, makes a surreal journey through different pools, symbol of the triumph of that social class.
Mariano Luque
el nadador, 2020
The next work is “La Piscina, 2017”, by María Blanco Rodríguez (A Coruña, 1982), which we can see among the works selected for the XXVI European Plastic Arts Competition of the University of Seville. The photographic piece conjugates the natural-artificial binomial, where the built stage invites us to reflect on the use of objects, property or on what we need to recreate our own place of recreation.
María Blanco Rodríguez
“La Piscina, 2017”
“Zozobra”, by Fran Carmona (Malaga, 1995), belongs to the pictorial project “Los Desagües del Paraíso”, which revises the artificial landscape and the hedonistic origin that surrounds the water parks. With a colourful figuration bordering on mystery or provocation, this piece suggests a playful scene where bathers wearing their floats meet in the pool from a bizarre slide.
Fran Carmona
“Zozobra”
The photographic project “Pensamiento Circular”, by Gema Ramírez (Cádiz, 1998), was carried out during the period of imprisonment imposed by the coronavirus. The image in black and white and with a texture that leads to calm, revolves around the feeling of limitation as opposed to the sensation of freedom that swimming in water gives us.
Gema Ramírez
“Pensamiento Circular”
“La Presa”, by Lucia Tello (Seville, 1996), is a pictorial work that tries to unite and confront different visions about the limited aquatic space, either by architectural elements or by nature itself. A scene with sinuous lines that suggests a route, unconscious or not, where the different kinds of water meet and fulfil their end.
Lucia Tello
“La Presa”
We continue with the piece “Beas II, 2020”, by Claudia Suárez (Huelva, 1994), which reminds us how important it is to live the present by valuing rest and disconnection. The artist’s work is based on a photographic reference and through its protagonists she immerses us in summer stories. The chosen line and the importance she gives to the white build an identifying language in her painting.
Claudia Suárez
“Beas II, 2020”
In “s/t, 2020”, by Javier Aldarias (Jaén), it is the water in which the bather immerses herself that contains the conceptual weight of this work, alluding to the cleansing of the soul and the rebirth. A piece that could be confused with a photograph and that, although lacking the colour range so recognisable in her painting, maintains the same iconographic language.
Javier Aldarias
“s/t, 2020”
And finally, two sculptural projects by Fernando Suárez Reguera (Oviedo) around the swimming pool. The sculptor works the movement in his iron and bronze pieces with an impeccable technique. On the one hand, “Swimming Pool in Iron II”, where the absence of water does not prevent us from imagining that scene of enjoyment with bathers in activities typical of that space: sitting on the edge; diving in headlong; rising to the surface; or swimming underwater.
Fernando Suárez Reguera
On the other hand “Synchronized II”, a piece in bronze and resin where it does reinterpret the water that accompanies a choreography of artistic swimming.
The edition of Arte-Piscinas II has been an experience in which I must thank all the contributions offered. In this selection of eight artists we have been able to discover very powerful pieces in different techniques and disciplines. And I invite you to continue investigating in their projects as a way of carrying out these summer dates.
Enjoy the little pleasures and Happy August!
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* Header photo: “Pool in Iron II” by sculptor Fernando Suárez Reguera
The works are available. For more information you can visit their profiles on Instagram or their websites below:
- Perfil de Instagram Mariano Luque
- Perfil de Instagram María Blanco Rodríguez – web
- Perfil de Instagram Fran Carmona
- Perfil de Instagram Gema Ramírez
- Perfil de Instagram Lucia Tello
- Perfil de Instagram Claudia Suárez
- Perfil de Instagram Javier Aldarias– web
- Perfil de Instagram Fernando Suárez Reguera– web
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